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Ivan Barnev
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Alpha
A lecturer in the Department of Criminal Justice is preparing his professional return to operational work as head of the newly formed Serial Crimes Unit. He has to choose people for his team from among four of his students.
The Goat
The trumpet player, Jonah, moves into the remains of his grandfather's house near where the treasure is hidden. In a tunnel under the house he finds a stone with a bird engraved on it and a map with an inscription in Arabic: "To have a house of gold, fall onto the sky and find the twin!" A copy of the same map brings Rumba and Emma to the same place. Rumba is Bulgarian and a passionate treasure-hunter. His wife is American and studies Bulgarian folklore as a way to fight globalization. Rumba wants to buy Jonah's property so he can find the treasure.
The Father
Vasil has just lost his long-time partner in life, his wife Ivanka. When a woman at her funeral proclaims that the dead woman called her cellphone, Vasil seeks out the help of a well-known psychic in order to try to contact his wife. His son Pavel tries to bring him to his senses, but Vasil stubbornly insists on doing things his own way… Following the internationally successful The Lesson and Glory, Grozeva and Valchanov return with an intimate family drama about the difficulties of connecting with those close to us. As the picture slowly gathers momentum, its story unfolds many of the carefully arranged absurd or comic situations typical for the Bulgarian filmmaking duo.
Voice Over
The end of the 70s. Anton Krastev, a DOP and his wife Diana are separated by the Iron curtain - she fled with their son Antoan to Western Berlin while he stayed in Bulgaria. She believes that Antoan can only be cured in Germany. But Anton can't live without his job. He works with the best film director who is a high ranking Communist. The State Security Services are keeping a zealous eye on Anton. His phone calls are being taped, his letters are being read. His close relations to the power people of the day make him even more suspicious. The State Security Services put an end to Anton's relation with his wife. Thorn apart, Anton and Diana go through love, alienation and hate. There comes a time though when the powerful friends of Anton lose their power and he loses everything that he's ever loved - his work, his wife and son. Thirty years later Anton shoots the story of his own life. But those who now direct the movie are the very same people who once persecuted him.
Blaga's Lessons
Blaga is a seventy-year-old recently widowed former teacher and a woman of firm morals. When telephone scammers con her out of the money that she had saved for her husband’s grave, her moral compass slowly begins to lose its bearings…
The Hunt for Salamander
A detective and his ex-wife, a detective herself, come close on the occasion of two weird cases...
Thirst
A couple and their teenage son eke out a living on a hilltop, doing the laundry for local hotels, despite the intermittent water supply. Their simple life is overturned by the arrival of a father-and-daughter team of diviner and well-digger, who promise to bring an end to this precarious existence by finding a source on their arid hill. But ultimately, these newcomers quench a thirst far greater than than the simple need for water.
The Lesson
An honest, hard-working schoolteacher in a small Bulgarian town is driven to desperate measures to avoid financial ruin.
I Served the King of England
Prague, Czechoslovakia, during the inter-war period. Jan Dítě, a young and clever waiter who wants to become a millionaire, comes to the conclusion that to achieve his ambitious goal he must be diligent, listen and observe as much as he can, be always discreet and use what he learns to his own advantage; but the turbulent tides of history will continually stand in his way.
Black Money For White Nights
After years of saving from the petty bribes they collect, sixty-year-old Marina and Gosha from Bulgaria dream of travelling to Saint Petersburg for the White Nights. When Russia invades Ukraine and the travel agency vanishes with all their savings, their dream collapses along with their illusion of control over their morals and their relationship.
8' 19"
8 minutes and 19 seconds – that’s all the time we have until the news about the death of the sun reaches us. That's what it takes for the light to travel from there to here. And then the darkness comes… But the theme of this Apocalypse is not necessarily going to be expressed through a global cataclysm, horsemen of the apocalypse, angels of death, fire and destruction. It will rather be shown as something very personal, intimate and almost silent.
Blessed Are the Meek
After his mother's death, Ivo, a 13 year old boy, develops super sensitivity along with his big imagination and difficult character. He runs away from his home and forms a friendship with the unemployed Ivan, who turns into his guardian angel.
Kalabush
An undocumented immigrant arrives in Cyprus, thinking he is in Italy. A story evolves around him, involving people who live in the margins society, and a veil of hypocrisy is created.
Directions
A road movie set in present day Bulgaria, a country remains optimistic, mainly because all the realists and pessimists have left. At a meeting with his banker, a small business owner, who drives a cab to make ends meet, discovers the bribe he will have to pay to get a loan has doubled. The ethics board that reviewed his complaint about extortion now wants its share of the action. At his wit's end, he shoots the banker and then himself. The incident sparks national debate on talk radio about how despair has taken over civil society. Meanwhile, six taxi drivers and their passengers move through the night, each in hope of finding a brighter way forward.